Welcome to Loch Arkaig Ospreys season 8
Will Louis and Dorcha return to Nest 2?
Will someone take up residence in Nest 1?
Will any of Louis' chicks with Aila and Dorcha be sighted?
2024 season:
Louis arrived on Thursday 28th March at 15.18.38
Dorcha arrived on Saturday 30th March at 14.21.27
They reunited on Saturday 30th March at 16.13.37
First egg laid on Sunday 14th March at 11.13.48 Congratulations!!
Second egg laid on Wednesday 17th March at 05.55.52
Dorcha is injured in an eagle attack on Friday 19th April at 11.08
Third egg laid on Saturday 20th April at 02.26.08
Welcome little bob - first chick hatches! Wednesday 22nd May at 06.16.45
Welcome little bob - second chick hatches - it's twins! Wednesday 22nd May at 22.26.15
Welcome little bob - third chick hatches! Friday 24th May at 16.36.10
Sad death of little chick three Sunday 16th June at approx 19.02
Louis disappears, last seen Wednesday 26th June 11.22.56
Louis returns but is clearly not well Saturday 29th June 08.26.37
Decision made to place the two surviving chicks in a translocation programme Sunday 30th June
Licensed raptor team collects the chicks Monday 1st July 10.15
Chicks arrive in Spain and are ringed Yellow 1JR & 1JW Thursday 11th July
Sadly, 1JR started having seizures and succumbed to a heart condition Tuesday 23rd July
FLEDGE! The surviving chick 1JW found his wings and flew Thursday 25th July 3pm
Dorcha last seen on camera (Nest One) 11.19.43 Saturday 27th July
Louis last seen on camera (Nest Two) 13.31.18 Tuesday 30th July
.
Link to February 2024 - May 2024 thread:
loch-arkaig---the-woodland-trust---february-2024---may-2024
2023 season highlights:
Louis returned on Sunday 2nd April at 12.26.54
Dorcha returned on Sunday 9th April 08.09.46
They reunited on Monday 10th April at 12.33.03
First egg laid Friday 21st April at 05.44.19
A Golden Eagle touched down on Saturday 22nd April at 11.50.56
Second egg laid Monday 24th April at 07.03.30
Third egg laid on Thursday 27th April at 07.35.39
Violent Owl strike sends an egg overboard 23rd May at 00.26.46
First chick hatches - and it's Egg3! 31st May at 13.08
Another Owl strike - Bob's unharmed. 6th June at 00.18.16
It's a boy! The chick is ringed LY7 on 9th July around 10am
Fledge! LY7 finds his wings and flies 19th July at 15.05.11
Hello Ludo! The voting results are in and LY7 is named Ludo! 19th July
Dorcha leaves on her travels - last seen on 17th August at 06.30.34
Louis was last seen on 24th August at 15.50.34
Ludo LY7 was last seen* on 25th August at 10.03.28 (*on the nest)
Ludo sighted in France 24th September! Still there 8th October
Link to 2023 thread:
https://community.rspb.org.uk/placestovisit/lochgartenospreys/f/loch-garten-ospreys/282446/loch-arkaig---the-woodland-trust---march-2023-to-february-2024
Brief history of the nests:
Nest One - Affric 152 gets a teeny tiny fish from Garry LV0
16.36.28 Affric 152 returns to the nest, fish calling
16.37.09 Garry LV0 arrives with a tiddler - Affric grabs it immediately
16.37.30 Affric flies off with it 16.40.00 Affric returns having eaten the fish and calls for more
17.27.51 Garry leaves suddenly, in his hurry he disturbs a stick and almost takes it with him. Affric remains.
17.48.39 Affric leaves, heading east and disappearing out of sight near the logo.
Daily summary Thursday 15th August 2024
Plenty of action today as Affric 152 and Garry LV0 flew on and off Nest One over a period of several hours, ignoring a quick flypast by the RAF. She spent a lot of time fish-calling and was eventually rewarded with a fish - but it was a teeny tiny little tiddler which she demolished in about three minutes. She called for more, but Garry didn't oblige. The weather wasn't very obliging either, wet and windy most of the day, and same again expected tonight and tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 22.02.27 (05.12.15); Nest Two 21.52.38 (05.17.08)
Today’s videos:
https://youtu.be/pL-09gIw4A8 N1 Garry LV0 brings moss, tidies, and has a preen 12.08.32
https://youtu.be/sAin2I829BE N1 Garry LV0 returns with a stick 13.05.22
https://youtu.be/1mt2ZZZhteM N1 Affric 152 arrives followed shortly after by Garry LV0 14.55.05
https://youtu.be/U9CxLSmhoTM N1 Noisy RAF flypast doesn't faze Affric & Garry 15.30.39
https://youtu.be/-c3lZKY7Blc N1 Garry brings Affric a teeny tiny fish 16.36.28
Bonus action - last chance to nominate Woodland Trust for a £5k grant, closes midnight tomorrow:
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/osprey-cam/?ht-comment-id=15743696
Blast from the past, this day in previous years:
https://youtu.be/2EqB8ZLlLNQ N1 Get a grip, Mallie! (2019)
https://youtu.be/q4v0VblhLDE N1 Confirmed: final sighting of Doddie on the nest (2020)
https://youtu.be/JNjzfsGJMd0 N1 Stramash over the first fish (2020)
https://youtu.be/Btn2GxS_waQ N1 Fish delivery from Aila (2020)
https://youtu.be/41z2mZ9rRNI N2 Dorcha chases crows but they return to plague Willow (2022)
https://youtu.be/N-Z7Z-WV_1U N2 The Mystery Fish makes its appearance! (2022)
https://youtu.be/GOsbIENNolA N2 Spotted Flycatchers visit (2022)
https://youtu.be/_KZr32ZVd74 N2 Dorcha's fish calls get no response 2023
https://youtu.be/TorII7K__-g N2 Spotted Flycatcher on Dorcha's perch 2023
https://youtu.be/3ReQ1_Bhj0I N2 Ludo does a faceplant 2023
https://youtu.be/mwUhXluhRss N2 Great Tit catches Ludo's attention 2023
https://youtu.be/DOjTPRRcbj8 N2 Louis does a three-second fish handover to Ludo 2023
More photos and tweets from Fundación Migres and Woodland Trust Scotland, with an update on our Arkaig osprey chick 1JW and the other ten translocated Scottish Osprey chicks.
All are doing well, exploring Parque Natural de la Marjal de Pego-Oliva Spain.
One of the photos is of 1JW but we don't know which one!
All the birds look in magnificent condition, getting ready for the long hazardous migration journey.
Or will some stick around in Spain or Portugal? With climate change warming things up, that's also a possibility.
Photos courtesy of the Fundación Migres: https://www.fundacionmigres.org/en/
I cobbled this video together for those who don't get on with TwiX
Nest One
10.51.20 Movement from between the knolls in the distance - someone's flying towards the nest
10.51.25 Garry LV0 arrives with a clump of moss
Does a quick bit of nest-cupping then hops up onto the left hand perch, starts preening
11.01 Garry starts coy-mantling
11.01.16 Affric 152 arrives and starts fish-calling. They spend two hours together
13.19.47 Garry flies off.
13.26.26 He arrives back with a stick
13.34.15 Both suddenly look around and depart in a hurry
16.20.59 Garry LV0 arrives with a clump of moss. He pootles around the nest for a few moments then starts coy-mantling
16.21.43 Affric 152 arrives. She checks him for fish but there isn't any, and she starts asking and keeps calling
16.54.59 Garry leaves, flying directly out of sight to the left - westwards
17.30 Affric is still sitting waiting and hoping he's going to return with fish but he doesn't
17.33.38 Affric gives up and flies off also flying westwards
Daily summary Friday 16th August 2024
Garry LV0 and Affric 152 spent hours on the nest again today. Although Affric gave Garry much vocal encouragement, he only brought moss to the nest, no fish. Fundación Migres provided more photos of the Scottish cohort including our chick 1JW, we're not sure which photo he's in but all the birds look in magnificent shape as they prepare for migration. Photos and tweets cobbled together into a video for those who don't get on with TwiX. Weather-wise it was wet and windy as forecast, and more of the same tonight but with a possibility of dry spells tomorrow.
Night cam switches on (day cam): Nest One 21.56.53 (05.06.56); Nest Two 21.47.01 (05.13.30)
https://youtu.be/RnY54XNtci8 Spain: more photos and tweets of 1JW and the other ten translocatees
https://youtu.be/rQYUcsjAKB0 N1 Affric joins Garry but he brings sticks not fish 10.51.20
https://youtu.be/lD-oLI2NjpA N1 Garry and Affric return later but there's still no fish 16.20.59
Bonus photo - our ringer Lewis Pate makes The Week In Wildlife (thanks Moira)
https://bit.ly/WeekInWildlifeLewisringingaSeaEaglechick
https://youtu.be/plpQ3BYG-Rc N1 All grown up: Rannoch defends her fish 2019
https://youtu.be/K4Kbj7NQ0q8 N1 Aila brings fish but looks like she needs it most 2020
https://youtu.be/qcBatA6qgTY N1 Size matters! Split screen 2020
https://youtu.be/hiFrQx0H8TQ N1 Captain steals Vera's fish 2020
https://youtu.be/jP-04_PQW_I N2 Little bird does a flypast behind Sarafina, returns and perches 2022
https://youtu.be/XaxM2NwNUCg N2 Dorcha stays on the nest until Sarafina gives her a nip! 2022
https://youtu.be/5hvJRi33SFM N2 Sarafina practises flying with fish but isn’t quite there yet 2022
https://youtu.be/F0ys6FiFeeM N2 Cleaning crew arrive too early 2022
https://youtu.be/7XYT94gy-Ig N2 Louis and Dorcha do a rapid fish handover 2023
https://youtu.be/bLzUfkvwasE N1 & N2 USAF flypast 2023 (zoom)
https://youtu.be/rW3CJVJqZLU N2 Ludo waits ready to grab the fish 2023
Nest One:
12.12.38 Garry LV0 arrives, immediately followed by Affric 152, both fly in from the east
12.17.58 Garry leaves the left-hand perch for a mating attempt, not successful, but she doesn't rebuff him, just gives a little wing-lift
12.18.25 Alarm chipping - both look intently to the left and at the camera then Affric leaves in a hurry, quickly followed by Garry - both head eastwards flying up towards the logo.
Affric swings round and flies westwards
12.18.52 Affric lands on Stick Tree
(zoomed)
12.24.16 Garry LV0 returns with a huge clump of moss
12.47.55 Affric leaves Stick Tree and returns to the nest, landing eleven seconds later - if you listen intently, you can hear her fish-calling
13.11.56 Garry leaves
13.12.47 Garry returns with a thin twiggy stick - Affric's fish calling
14.07.18 Garry departs, not far as Affric keeps calling
14.29.17 Garry returns - with moss! Affric isn't happy, calls ramp up, both move to their respective perches
15.10.15 Garry leaves, doesn't return again today
15.19.07 Affric departs for the day too
She's been on the nest 2.5 hours calling most of that time, but no fish. Garry is going to have to work harder to make her pair with him.